Old Dog
by Muse Lord Mai-chan
Summary: As the leaves turn and dance in the wind, an old dog gets one year older. Birthday Oneshot


This fic was inspired by it being Kakashi's birthday, September 15th! So, the good ol' teacher's almost to his thirties now! (note: this was supposed to be uploaded yesterday, but due to technical difficulties, it was uploaded the day after)

Obito: Whooo! You old man, Kakashi, you!

Kankurou: Geesh?

Kiba: Wow, time sure does fly, doesn't it?

Lee: Hai! Yet Kakashi's Flames of Youth burn bright still! Yosh!

Obito: Well, I guess lets get on with the birthday fic, eh?

* * *

**-Old Dog**-

The leaves were falling early this year. Turning their bright greens to swirls of yellows, reds, oranges, and browns, falling to the ground, only to take flight in the cool winds of pre-fall. The beauty wasn't lost on the easy, laid-back man that was Hatake Kakashi. He stood over the memorial stone as usual, pretending to be searching for a name, but only really focusing on the three names scribed into the stone. The sun rose in the sky, but its influence on the weather had ceased to command.

"Alright… I guess I'll come visit you guys later." Kakashi spoke abruptly. Turning away, he began towards the accustomed meeting place, where he would meet his team. He turned abruptly though, his one visible eye widening noticeably. Three small presents sat on the memorial stone, each on looking freshly wrapped. One, wrapped in orange with a white ribbon, another in red with and orange ribbon, and the third green with white ribbon. Kakashi walked up and looked at the small gifts. Reading the "To" tag on one of the gifts (the green one) Kakashi's eye widened again. It was for him! The "from" was left blank.

Kakashi looked about, but couldn't detect a presence of any sort. Studying the two other presents, he found they too were labeled to him from mystery friends. Looking around, he stuck them in a pocket for later.

"Kakashi! You're late!" Sakura and Naruto yelled, pointing two accusing fingers at him.

"Sorry, a black cat crossed my path, causing me to have to take a longer route, only for several old ladies needing a hand to pop up." Kakashi explained. It was his best excuse yet!

"Liar!" The two accused again. Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"Anyways, today's duties are-"

"Kakashi-sensei! Today's your birthday, right?" Sakura interrupted.

"Why, yes it is, Sakura." Kakashi replied, feeling a bit touched. "I didn't expect anyone to remember an old dog like my self's birthday."

"Happy Birthday, Sensei!" Sakura held out a tiny wrapped gift, the paper crisp and pink, with a deeper pink ribbon.

"Happy Birthday, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto threw him a gift, wrapped in orange and black. "You'd better like it!"

"Hn, Happy Birthday." Sasuke more gently tossed Kakashi a gift, wrapped in black and dark blue, with a tag bearing the Uchiha Crest on the front.

"Aww, thank you everyone!" Kakashi's eye turned to an upward curve of happiness. "I'll open them while you guys do your duties."

"Yes sir!" The three responded.

After the duties were explained, and the three Genin were sent off, Kakashi took out the gifts he had received. The three mystery gifts and the gifts from his team. Setting the mystery gifts to the side, he grabbed his teams gifts first.

Naruto had given Kakashi a special edition, signed copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Sakura had gotten Kakashi some easy to store and carry medical supplies, and had made a pressed flower. Sasuke had given his sensei a special kunai, the Uchiha Clan symbol embedded into the blade; the kunai meant more for decoration. Setting the gifts to the side, already coming up with thanks for his team for the truly wonderful gifts, he looked to the next three.

The Orange and Red gift came first. Opening it, Kakashi found another Icha Icha book, this one the new and soon-to-be released Icha Icha Violence! Next came the Green and white gift. It turned out to be a small pouch, also with medic supplies, and another pressed flower, though this flower was rarer and only found in Grass Country. The final gift, the orange and white gift, turned out to be another Kunai, this one a special type of kunai that Kakashi had only seen his mentor, the Yondaime Hokage, use. He studied the gifts. The names of his lost comrades sprang up as he studied the mystery gifts. Obito would have gotten him the book, Rin the medic supplies and flower. And Yondaime would have given him the Kunai. Kakashi's mind wandered the possibilities that someone was playing a joke on him. But for now, he didn't mind.

No, he was just one, lucky, old dog.


End file.
